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twitter.com/temponew • facebook/temponews • Email:temponews@comcast.net • Feb. 8 - Feb. 14, 2018 • TEMPO News • Page 3
Publisher - Johnny Hunter, Sr.
General/Production Manager - Johnny Hunter, Jr.
Senior Correspondents - C.S. Howard,
Rita Smith, & Mwezi Dake
Contributing Correspondents - DeMone Lee,
Dr. Willie Holley, and Lucius Gantt
Circulation: Lenora Larkins - MANATEE &
Caroldine Lewis - SARASOTA
Subscription - Johnny Hunter, Jr.
Serving Sarasota and Manatee Counties since 1987
Address: 3006 Goodrich Avenue-Sarasota, FL 34234
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 3243-Sarasota, FL 34230
Phone: (941) 702-8310 • Fax (941) 351-6962
Website: www.temponewsflorida.com
Email: temponews@comcast.net
Notary Public
Opinions expressed on editorials pages of this newspaper by
Columnist or Guest Writers, do not necessarily reflect the
editorial stance of The TEMPO News or the Publisher.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Johnny Hunter, Jr., Chairman, Johnny Hunter, Sr.,
Walter Spikes, Jr., Julian Moreland, Pat Carter,
and Henry Pugh
BY RONDA RACHA PENRICE
When the Government Discriminates,
Sheila Johnson Fights Back
The “biggest fight of
my life,” says Sheila
C. Johnson, wasn’t co-
founding Black Enter-
tainment Television
or ending her 33-year
marriage to Robert
“Bob” Johnson, with
whom she raised two
children and a televi-
sion network together.
It was getting zon-
ing, planning and other
local government per-
mits to open a hotel
and spa in the village of
Middleburg, Virginia.
While the hotel, which
she called “The Sala-
mander,” would create
dozens of jobs and pay
millions in property and
other taxes, the village
government fought her
every step of the way.
Her famous name
and hard-earned wealth
didn’t give her any
advantages. “None of
that matters,” she told
CNN, “As an African-
American, they didn’t
want me to do this. It
was the fight of my life.
I’ve never been more
frightened in my life.”
ADD LINK: http://
www.cnn.com/videos/
cnnmoney/2016/10/14/
unstereotyped-black-
one-percent-cnnmon-
ey.cnnmoney/video/
playlists/cnnmoney/
Certianly, Johnson had
more credentials than
any other developer or
investor in that hamlet of
fewer than 640 residents.
Johnson says always
“had an entrepreneurial
spirit.” In high school,
she earned money by
playing her violin in
small parties and, later,
by giving private lessons.
And she was tireless in
building BET from a
two-hour feature into a
24-hour cable channel.
She is a woman of
firsts. She was one of
first African-American
woman billionaires.
She is the first African
American woman to
own three professional
sports teams in three
different leagues—the
NBA’s Washington Wiz-
ards (where she serves
as both president and
managing partner), the
NHL’s Washington Cap-
itals and the WNBA’s
Washington Mystics.
And she is renowned
leader in philanthropy.
The Sheila C. Johnson
Design School Center
at the Parsons School
of Design in New York
City, where she serves
on the Board of Gover-
nors, bears her name. At
the Harvard Kennedy
School, she endows the
Sheila C. Johnson Lead-
ership Fellowship to
support emerging lead-
ers primarily focused
on erasing disparities
in underserved African
American communities.
As Johnson explained,
“none of that mattered.”
Middleburg, founded
in 1787, fashions itself
the “Nation’s Horse
and Hunt Capital.” It
is renowned for steeple
chases and fox hunts.
It has 632 residents,
according to the U.S.
Census, and many of
them are opposed to any
change. While one out
five Middleburg resi-
dents are African-Amer-
ican, they have little say
over local government.
Johnson, who lived in
town, wanted her hotel
to have an equestrian
theme—including rid-
ing trails and horse pad-
docks—in keeping with
the town’s traditions.
Johnson purchased near-
ly 350 acres in 2002,
lands once owned by
former U.S. ambassador
Pamela Harriman, a one-
time daughter-in-law
of Winston Churchill.
She thought it would
take just a few years
to build her dream. In
the end, it would take
more than ten years.
The local government
had to issue permits and
every step of the way it
dragged its heels, finding
one reason or another to
delay or deny a permit.
Often, Johnson had to
take the town to court.
“I was naïve about re-
alizing that I was south
of the Mason-Dixon
Line and a lot of people
got very nervous about
this African American
woman coming in and
building this resort,”
admits the 68-year-old
Johnson, who is no
stranger to racial dis-
crimination. Growing
up, the Pennsylvania-
born Johnson moved
more than a dozen times
before settling in May-
wood, just outside Chi-
cago, because her neuro-
surgeon father’s race fre-
quently became an issue.
Those experiences,
however, taught Johnson
a resilience that serves
her to this day. “I learned
the life of hard knocks
and racism but I was also
able to assimilate into the
different cultures and do
whatIhadtodotomake
things work,” she said.
In the end, she won.
Today the Salaman-
der Resort & Spa in
Middleburg has won
the coveted Forbes
Five Star and AAA
Five Diamond awards.
The hotel is the crown
jewel in an impressive
constellation of almost
ten hotels. Earlier this
year, she added Nop-
si New Orleans to her
portfolio and Hotel
Bennett in Charleston,
South Carolina is set to
join in summer 2018.
Equestrian-themed,
Salamander Resort &
Spa’s 168 guestrooms
and suites boast coun-
tryside views as well
as an on-site stable,
a 23,000-square-foot
spa, a heated pool and
a cooking studio. “I
think what is differ-
ent with our resorts is
people feel so comfort-
able and so at home,”
says Johnson. “When
they enter our doors,
they do not feel like it’s
just a regular hotel.”
“With my resorts,”
she continues, “I want
to make sure it’s my
thumbprint. It’s not a
Ritz-Carlton thumb-
print or St. Regis. And
those are great hotels.”
Johnson’s impact on
the hospitality industry
and Loudoun County
specifically has been un-
deniable, says Beth Er-
ickson, Visit Loudoun’s
president/CEO since
2014 who works closely
with Salamander. Loud-
oun County tourism ac-
counts for nearly 17,000
hospitality jobs and gen-
erates roughly $1.6 bil-
lion annually in spend-
ing. And Johnson is a
big part of that success.
“When Sheila opened
Salamander, it was the
only new luxury des-
tination resort in the
United States that
opened in 2013 and,
by opening it alone,
it created 400 jobs,”
says Erickson. “Occu-
pancy taxes from Sala-
mander have exceeded
$1.3 million per year.”
And Middleburg has
reaped the rewards.
“Some of those taxes,”
reports Erickson, “went
directly to improving
sidewalks and cross-
walks in Middleburg. It
created revenue that al-
lowed the town’s failing
pipes to be replaced.”
Johnson, who is also
a film producer with
‘Lee Daniels’ The But-
ler’’ (2013) among
her credits, “has liter-
ally brought Hollywood
to Loudoun County”
with the Middleburg
Film Festival she start-
ed when Salamander
opened, adds Erickson.
Held annually in Oc-
tober, Erickson says the
festival has put “us on
the map in the company
of Cannes, Telluride,
Sundance and that is
wonderful company to
keep.” The 2017 festi-
val, held October 19-22,
spotlighted the highly re-
garded film ‘Mudbound’
and featured a talk with
its acclaimed black fe-
male director Dee Rees.
In 2016, the festival also
screened ‘Moonlight’
and ‘La La Land,’ which
both won Oscars later.
“I was always a
businesswoman,”
she says. “I could not
prove that earlier but
I’m proving it now.”